The well-known basic portable “cooler” includes an insulated chamber for containing ice and/or items to be kept cold, and has carrying handles and/or other known provisions for portability such as wheels, for example.
The prior art includes many varieties of a storage compartment that also functions as a chair, with or without a seatback. In the instances wherein a collapsible (e.g., folding) support is provided to prevent tipping of the seat, the anti-tipping support generally appears as some form of rear chair leg(s) that pivots rearward about an elevated pivot. Examples can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,077,327 and 2,493,084.
Various enhancements have been added to coolers in order to customize them for specific uses. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,006 (Sokolis; 1966) discloses a foldable fisherman's chair (10) which is provided with an integral refrigerated storage compartment (20) and a tackle box (40). The compartment has front (12) and rear (16) bottom pieces for resting on the ground, and a hinged top compartment cover (25) that also constitutes a padded seat for the fisherman. The compartment is a single receptacle that serves as a chest which may contain ice for the refrigeration of fish, or bait, or any other desired material, such as cold drinks. The tackle box is a sliding drawer secured below the compartment. Both the compartment cover and the tackle box have means (35, 61) for latching them in a closed position. A seat back is provided by pivotably attaching a U-shaped back member (67) to the sides of the compartment. The back member is supported by a U-shaped leg frame (85) that is pivotably connected to the back member such that a back leg bottom piece (87) can be positioned to rest on the ground behind the compartment. Links (90) are connected by pivots (91, 92) to the lower portions of the compartment rear frame and the leg frame. The Sokolis FIGS. 5 and 6 show two different positions for folding the combined seat back and leg frame into a more compact configuration for carrying and storage. Both configurations remove the back leg bottom piece (87) from ground contact: the first by pivoting the leg frame and back member upward and toward the compartment such that the back member extends upward from the compartment; the second by pivoting the leg frame and back member downward and toward the compartment such that the back member extends rearward from the compartment.
Somewhat related, but more compact, is a portable chair with an insulated seat cooler that is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,407 (Nazar; 1984). The chair has a hollow seat base (1) with a hinged front access door (4) having a lock (5). The hollow portion is thermally insulated for keeping perishable foodstuffs, canned or bottled beverages, ice, fishing bait, or the like. The seat top (14) is contoured and/or padded with insulation 8 for seating comfort. A back member (2) is hingedly secured to the seat base whereby the back rest (2) may extend upward and back from the seat top for use, or may be folded upon the top of the seat for compact storage. A U-shaped back member support prop (3) of tubular construction may be hingedly secured to the back member whereby the support prop may extend back from the seat portion for greater reclining and comfort and additionally to prevent tipping of the device when occupied, or may be folded upon the lower rear portion of the back support member to become a convenient handle for carrying the collapsed portable chair/cooler.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome limitations of the prior art, such as the cumbersome form of the Sokolis device even when collapsed; and such as the limited usefulness of the Nazar device. Thus it is an object to provide a combined cooler and chair that provides all of the advantages of both, including a full size, full function cooler and one or two comfortable seat(s) with seat back(s) and an anti-tip support, all of which collapse into the profile of the cooler, thereby enabling convenient mobility and portability.